Friday, April 29, 2016

We are happy to announce that the Arkansas History Commission has received a generous grant from the Arkansas Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities of $24,387 to support much of our public programming in 2016. The grant will provide funding in part for five events occurring between June and October.

AHC Applauds AHA Award Winners

The Arkansas Historical Association held its annual meeting recently in Little Rock, April 21-23. This was the 75th annual meeting of the AHA, which has close historical ties to establishment of the Arkansas History Commission. On Friday evening, April 22, the annual awards banquet was held in the grand dining room of the Albert Pike Masonic Temple. Several of the award recipients were individuals closely connected to our agency. We’d like to take a moment to recognize them and congratulate them on their accomplishments!

Black History Commission News

This month’s BHCA news spotlights a recent recipient of a Curtis H. Sykes grant. Elmer Beard wanted to raise awareness about the history of African American officeholders in Hot Springs. When looking at the history of African Americans in Hot Springs, Beard noted that although there were reports of some African American officeholders in the city, there was little information available to historians about who they were.

From the Director

On March 31, 2016, Governor Asa Hutchinson signed Executive Order 16-05, establishing a World War I Centennial Commemoration Committee. I’m honored to be appointed to serve on this committee, which will coordinate the state’s events, memorials and projects celebrating “the Great War” in 2017 and 2018.

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Lida
Barret Ross was born on December 14, 1888 in Arkadelphia. She married
Horace William Browne and they had two children, Esther and Josephine
Sue. Lida began her family research of the Ligon family of Virginia in
the 1940s. Much of her research includes the Person, Ross, Taylor, and
Webb families of the 1700s and 1800s. Her two daughters also did
extensive genealogical research, using their family lineage to join
numerous hereditary societies. Lida died on February 9, 1971, in Little
Rock.

Josephine was born about 1910 and died on January 23, 2000.
She never married, and worked thirty years as Superintendent of
Operations for Arkla. She served in multiple offices for the societies
and clubs of which she was a member, including two terms as regent for
the Little Rock chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution,
board member of the Little Rock Departmental Club, and vice-president of
the Ligon Family and Kinsmen Association. She was a life member of the
Daughters of the American Revolution Museum in Washington, District of
Columbia, and helped raise money for the publication of a book about
Arkansas Post. She also established a scholarship for student nurses at
the Baptist Medical System Foundation in Little Rock.

Esther was
born August 7, 1912. She married Samuel Edwin Tyson on March 10, 1935,
and they were divorced in 1938. They had one child, Terry, who died on
July 23, 1977. Esther lived and worked in Little Rock the majority of
her life, but spent several years in Memphis working as a secretary for
John Deere Company. Following the death of her daughter Esther moved
back to Little Rock and remained there with her sister until her death
on December 9, 1991.
This
collection contains material related to Lida Ross Browne, Josephine Sue
Browne, and Esther Browne Tyson, including correspondence, hereditary
societies, clubs and associations, family histories, memorabilia,
photographs, and scrapbooks.

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

The Arkansas History Commission and State Archives has been awarded a grant in the amount of $24,387 by the Arkansas Humanities Council.

The grant, given for the project, “The Essence of Arkansas: Using Archival Records to Document Arkansas’s Culture,” will support the funding of programs and events throughout 2016.

Each year, the History Commission hosts a variety of free programs and events for the public. This year’s events include “African American Arts in Arkansas,” “The Roots of German Foodways in Arkansas,” “Using Archival Records to Save Historic Structures,” “Arkansas’s Home Run: The History of Major League Training in Hot Springs,” and an Arkansas Folk Music Legends workshop.

Dr. Lisa K. Speer, Director of the Arkansas History Commission said of the grant award, “We are so grateful to the Arkansas Humanities Council for its continued support. This funding allows us to offer a wide variety of free, quality public programs that we otherwise would not have the funding to do on our modest state appropriation. I am particularly excited about the diversity of our 2016 public programs, which will explore a variety of aspects of Arkansas culture including food, music and sports. I think we’ll have something to offer everyone.”

The Arkansas History Commission and State Archives, located in Little Rock, is the official state archives of Arkansas and maintains the largest collection of historical materials on Arkansas in the world.

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program is hosting two cemetery workshops this month. The first workshop is at Magnolia Cemetery on the 22nd and the second workshop is in Bold Pilgrim Cemetery in Morrilton.

Lunch will be provided by AHPP and will be served on the grounds. Parking for the workshop is at the cemetery. Tents will be provided in case of rain. Chairs are available, but if you need a stool you are encouraged to bring one. Gloves and comfortable clothing are encouraged.

To register, or for information, contact Holly Hope at holly@arkansasheritage.org, or call (501) 324-9148 prior to the day of the workshop. On the day of the workshop, call(501) 681-2120.

Algernon
Sidney Holderness was born in Caswell County, North Carolina, in 1834.
He studied medicine and surgery at the University of Pennsylvania, and
during the Civil War served in the Confederate Army, reaching the rank
of lieutenant in Company B, Monroe's Regiment, Cabell's Brigade, First
Arkansas Cavalry. He was honorably discharged on May 27, 1865. The
husband of Catherine B. Dixon and father of nine children, A.S.
Holderness died in Fordyce on April 28, 1904.
This
collection contains orders, muster rolls, correspondence, invoices, and
receipts illustrating activities of a Confederate unit operating in
southern Arkansas during the latter years of the Civil War.

1. 1861 November 16: State of Arkansas War Bond Number 77536, twenty dollars, G.W. Glenn

2. 1863 February 17: County tax and county war tax receipts, T.B. Holderness and G.W. Holderness, Drew County, 1862

3.
1863 March 3: Transfer of James R. Read and A.A. Anderson to service in
Little Rock as shoemakers, Quartermaster's Department (Richmond,
Virginia)

4. 1863 July 20: Special Orders Number 90,
Department of the Trans-Mississippi, Shreveport, Louisiana, transferring
Private I.B. Lester of Company B, Monroe's Regiment, Arkansas
Volunteers, to the general hospital in New Iberia

8.
1864 March 20: Special Orders Number 80 (Headquarters, District of
Arkansas), granting A.S. Holderness a twenty-five day disability leave
of absence from Company B, Monroe's Regiment, Arkansas Cavalry

15.
1865 January 17: Letter, Captain R.T. Banks, Camp Lee, Arkansas, Tenth
Company, Third Regiment, McNair's Brigade, to Colonel E.P. Turner,
stating two men serving in Company B, Monroe's Regiment, Cabell's
Brigade, who belonged to one of Banks' companies, and were to be located
and arrested

16. 1865 January 25: Special Orders Number
9, Headquarters of Cabell's Brigade in Champagnolle, Arkansas, directing
Lieutenant A.S. Holderness and ten men to proceed to Marks Mills for
the purpose of collecting guns and arresting military-aged men who are
absent without leave

17. 1865 March 20: Special Orders,
Headquarters of Monroe's Regiment, directing A.S. Holderness to take a
squad to Warren to return sabres belonging to the regiment there

18. 1865 March 22: Invoice of account, A.S. Holderness, to Confederate States, subsistence for men and horses

Monday, April 11, 2016

For nearly two years, the Arkansas History Commission and State Archives has worked with Aristotle, a local web design agency, to give its website a new look with a more streamlined, user-friendly functionality. The newly redesigned website now has an integrated search function that makes locating records and information about collections simpler.

On April 18th, the History Commission will begin a "soft launch" of the new website in the AHC research room. We're inviting our patrons to stop in and test it out and let us know what you think! We want your feedback - your likes and dislikes, tips and suggestions, and any difficulties you might find.

The website will officially launch online to the public on June 15, which is Arkansas's Statehood Day.

We are excited to share our new, more user-friendly site with our patrons, and we look forward to your feedback.

This project is funded in part by a grant from the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council.

Wednesday, April 6, 2016

James
Chapple was born January 20, 1840, to John and Harriet (Gosden) Chapple
in Walton-on-Thames, England. James and his brothers William and Henry
emigrated to the United States in 1855, and James settled in Little
Rock, Arkansas. He served as a private in the 1st Nebraska Volunteer
Infantry during the Civil War. On May 29, 1864, he married Jane "Jennie"
Reed, daughter of J. Harris and Frederika A. Reed. Jennie was born
March 4, 1841, in Jacksonville, Arkansas, and died July 30, 1917.

James
was a businessman for forty years and opened Allsopp and Chapple, a
books and stationery shop in Little Rock. James also served as treasurer
for Retail Grocers' Ice Company and the Mercantile Building Association
and as Director of Exchange National Bank and Gazette Publishing
Company. He was also a 33rd Degree Mason. He died on August 10, 1910, at
Huntington, Long Island, New York, where he was visiting his son Earl.

James
and Jennie had five children. Alexis H. married Carrie J.R. Simpson on
October 17, 1894. Mary F. married Fred Allsopp, the editor of the
Arkansas Gazette and business partner of her father. Parma E. remained
unmarried. James E. married the daughter of William J. Watson, a
Scottish immigrant, and Isabelle Taylor. Earl W. worked as general
manager of Electric Light and Power Company in Huntington, New York.